No, I don't remember that, because it only existed in one early release and was removed after. Sucks though, they should really finish that feature up and get it in. It's pretty ridiculous that you can't do that.

Abner Doon:No, I don't remember that, because it only existed in one early release and was removed after. Sucks though, they should really finish that feature up and get it in. It's pretty ridiculous that you can't do that.

And there wasn't even a built-in way to get to the functionality. You had to use another app to launch the activity.

skozlaw:I've never seen a company that keeps things in beta for so long and uses that as an excuse to kill useful tools so often...

When that company essentially gives away it's products and services then you can't really complain. Just a couple of decades ago stuff like Google Maps, Streetview, cloud storage, translate, Youtube etc were pure science fiction. No one would have imagined they would be free to use if and when they did arrive.

My android phone is full of apps, only one of which I had to pay for. I accept that ads and tracking to support those adds pays for that. For me it's a good deal, so I accept it.

Flint Ironstag:skozlaw: I've never seen a company that keeps things in beta for so long and uses that as an excuse to kill useful tools so often...

When that company essentially gives away it's products and services then you can't really complain. Just a couple of decades ago stuff like Google Maps, Streetview, cloud storage, translate, Youtube etc were pure science fiction. No one would have imagined they would be free to use if and when they did arrive.

My android phone is full of apps, only one of which I had to pay for. I accept that ads and tracking to support those adds pays for that. For me it's a good deal, so I accept it.

Fano:Flint Ironstag: skozlaw: I've never seen a company that keeps things in beta for so long and uses that as an excuse to kill useful tools so often...

When that company essentially gives away it's products and services then you can't really complain. Just a couple of decades ago stuff like Google Maps, Streetview, cloud storage, translate, Youtube etc were pure science fiction. No one would have imagined they would be free to use if and when they did arrive.

My android phone is full of apps, only one of which I had to pay for. I accept that ads and tracking to support those adds pays for that. For me it's a good deal, so I accept it.

Flint Ironstag:My android phone is full of apps, only one of which I had to pay for. I accept that ads and tracking to support those adds pays for that. For me it's a good deal, so I accept it.

Of course I can complain. I'm their customer and I pay for their products. The fact that lowest common denominators like you have forced me to pay in privacy rights instead of U.S. dollars doesn't mean I'm not paying for their products.

/ actually, it doesn't matter if I complain or not, I've been weeding Google out of my life for months now so I'm their customer less and less

skozlaw:Flint Ironstag: My android phone is full of apps, only one of which I had to pay for. I accept that ads and tracking to support those adds pays for that. For me it's a good deal, so I accept it.

Of course I can complain. I'm their customer and I pay for their products. The fact that lowest common denominators like you have forced me to pay in privacy rights instead of U.S. dollars doesn't mean I'm not paying for their products.

/ actually, it doesn't matter if I complain or not, I've been weeding Google out of my life for months now so I'm their customer less and less

skozlaw:Flint Ironstag: My android phone is full of apps, only one of which I had to pay for. I accept that ads and tracking to support those adds pays for that. For me it's a good deal, so I accept it.

Of course I can complain. I'm their customer and I pay for their products. The fact that lowest common denominators like you have forced me to pay in privacy rights instead of U.S. dollars doesn't mean I'm not paying for their products.

/ actually, it doesn't matter if I complain or not, I've been weeding Google out of my life for months now so I'm their customer less and less

TedCruz'sCrazyDad:theflatline: Tyrone Slothrop: One thing that's going to suck about Austin getting Google Fiber is that you know Google will be mining the hell out of the data going through their system.

It sounds like they're looking into the possibility for the third method but rooting is half the fun. Even if you don't want to flash a custom ROM, there's quite a lot that can be done with the Xposed framework and the various modules available for it on rooted stock devices.

Flint Ironstag:skozlaw: Flint Ironstag: My android phone is full of apps, only one of which I had to pay for. I accept that ads and tracking to support those adds pays for that. For me it's a good deal, so I accept it.

Of course I can complain. I'm their customer and I pay for their products. The fact that lowest common denominators like you have forced me to pay in privacy rights instead of U.S. dollars doesn't mean I'm not paying for their products.

/ actually, it doesn't matter if I complain or not, I've been weeding Google out of my life for months now so I'm their customer less and less

Flint Ironstag:When that company essentially gives away it's products and services then you can't really complain. Just a couple of decades ago stuff like Google Maps, Streetview, cloud storage, translate, Youtube etc were pure science fiction. No one would have imagined they would be free to use if and when they did arrive.

But, apart from great Maps, Streetview, cloud storage, translate, YouTube, massive email storage, free office apps, and a great calendar, what has Google done for us?

drumhellar:Flint Ironstag: When that company essentially gives away it's products and services then you can't really complain. Just a couple of decades ago stuff like Google Maps, Streetview, cloud storage, translate, Youtube etc were pure science fiction. No one would have imagined they would be free to use if and when they did arrive.

But, apart from great Maps, Streetview, cloud storage, translate, YouTube, massive email storage, free office apps, and a great calendar, what has Google done for us?

[www.haaretz.com image 640x370]

Nothing.

Well where is the code going to get written? In a box?

or

Look, whilst we can all agree that every phone is a walled garden we can agree it is a human right to have privacy, loretta. (obtuse?)

Tobin_Lam:divx88: Or you could you know, read the permissions being asked for on install & update. I know reading is hard though.

Getting apps on Google play allows you to not have to worry about dealing with apps that use push notification ads or icon drops since they're against ToS now.

Care to dig through all the crap for an app that matches the permissions you'll allow? You either accept all the permissions requested or you don't install the app.

Yup pretty much, if I don't like the permissions they're asking for, I don't install the app. You fall under the I Agreed by Accident category? Can't read a very short list? Can't be bothered to learn a bit? I know reading is hard.

drumhellar:Flint Ironstag: When that company essentially gives away it's products and services then you can't really complain. Just a couple of decades ago stuff like Google Maps, Streetview, cloud storage, translate, Youtube etc were pure science fiction. No one would have imagined they would be free to use if and when they did arrive.

But, apart from great Maps, Streetview, cloud storage, translate, YouTube, massive email storage, free office apps, and a great calendar, what has Google done for us?

[www.haaretz.com image 640x370]

Nothing.

A searchable archive of every out of copyright book ever published as well. Again, all for free.

I'm really quite okay with google using some data from me to build that shiat. They're not using that data to build criminal cases against me or put me on death lists like the NSA is, they're selling it to people whose interest is in showing me ads for things that might actually be useful for my life and that I might actually be interested in buying.

I get products and services for free, and I get ads that are actually relevant to my life instead of ads that are just completely irrelevant and irritating. If you accept advertising as a given, it's a win win.

I wish they would have a way to disable the version compatibility check that apps do.

Because this app is pissing me (and a lot of other people) off right now.

// the upgrade from android 4.4.1 to 4.4.2 killed that app. The developer sets a hard limit to what version it will run under. If you have even a minor version above that, boom, the app exits on launch with an "incompatible android version" error.

This is akin to a windows application refusing to run because you installed the latest service pack.

And unfortunately, this is the best (by a wide margin) of about a dozen different android video players that I've tried. Grrrrrrrr.

AdamK:*shrugs* the way Google is heading, i'd be shocked if android wasn't basically identical to iOS in 5 years, only with some forced google+ stuff

5 years? They've already started circling the wagons around the userbase on the Google+ thing. They've almost got everyone reined in on the Talk vs Hangouts thing. Even though Hangouts is an absolute atrocity. They started by integrating GMail with Hangouts, then they forced Hangouts updates to Talk on Android devices. Both of which have their framework now firmly planted in Google+. All google accounts have an associated G+ account, whether you want it or not. And recently, Hangouts replaced the stock messaging app, the one you use for texting. I'm pretty sure you'll see full G+ integration within the next two versions of the OS.

So with the installed OS, we can't prevent our phones from leaking private information all over the place. And it's also illegal to root my phone so I can install privacy preservation software on my own?

lordargent:I wish they would have a way to disable the version compatibility check that apps do.

Because this app is pissing me (and a lot of other people) off right now.

// the upgrade from android 4.4.1 to 4.4.2 killed that app. The developer sets a hard limit to what version it will run under. If you have even a minor version above that, boom, the app exits on launch with an "incompatible android version" error.

This is akin to a windows application refusing to run because you installed the latest service pack.

And unfortunately, this is the best (by a wide margin) of about a dozen different android video players that I've tried. Grrrrrrrr.

That's just terrible coding. It makes sense to set a minimum OS version, but a max version is just silly because updates are always being pushed out. I don't know why any coder would think it is a good idea.